Apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for producing container products (26) from plastics materials, in particular by carrying out a moulding, filling and sealing process, the apparatus comprising a moulding device to which a moulding tube made of plasticised plastics material can be supplied by means of an extrusion head (20), and which moulding device has moulding surfaces which are movable and reproduce a specifiable container geometry, on which surfaces the moulding tube can be placed for a shaping, filling and / or sealing process, wherein a guiding and holding device is provided which has movable guiding and holding parts which can be controlled such that, in at least one functional position of possible functional positions outside the moulding region of the moulding device, said guiding and holding parts act on the plastics material that surrounds the finished, created container products (26), at least in part, characterised in that the plastics material, which, in the form of a card (115), establishes a material connection (102) between a finished container product (26) that has already left the moulding device and an at least partly finished container product that is still in the moulding device, can be separated by means of a separating device (108).

Description

[0001] device

[0002] The invention relates to a device for producing container products from plastic materials, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, with the features of the preamble of patent claim 1.

[0003] EP 2 595 789 B1 discloses a method for forming a plurality of containers from a preform, the method including the following steps:

[0004] - moving a holder and holding a hose after it has exited the hose head of an extrusion device;

[0005] - Cutting off the retained, open tube of the preform before filling and / or sealing the containers;

[0006] - moving a first section of a mold to a first closed position around a first portion of the open preform; - forming a plurality of at least one section of first containers with the first portion of the preform in the first section;

[0007] - Filling or sealing the first containers;

[0008] - moving a second section of the mold to a second closed position around a second portion of the open preform; and - forming a plurality of at least one portion of second containers, staggered with respect to the first containers, with the second portion of the preform in the second section, wherein the second section of the mold is integrated with the first section of the mold.

[0009] In the known solution, the tubular preform is cut immediately before its forming and filling, with the tubular cut being performed immediately above the upwardly open preform, which therefore has a relatively large, widened filling opening in cross-section. During the tubular cut, smoke, gases, vapors, and particles (hereinafter also referred to as contaminants) can easily be generated or released, which can lead to direct contamination of the interior of the preform via the aforementioned opening in the preform and thus of the container opening and the container contents. This risk is increased by the long cutting path, which essentially corresponds to the outer diameter of the tubular, which can result in a relatively long cutting time.Due to the easy deformability of the still heat-soft preform, rapid cutting is not possible, as the preform must be held open to allow the filling tubes to be inserted. A similar solution is described in WO 2007 / 010373 A1.

[0010] The risk of contamination by particles or gaseous substances described above can be avoided by producing not individual containers, but a wide-area container chain conveyor. These containers are spatially separated from each other in the cooled state by a separating device that engages the emerging container chain outside the forming device, usually by punching. The production of such container chain conveyors by vacuum forming is described in the generic WO 2014 / 060101 A1, as well as in DE 10 2008 006 073 A1, and in a subsequently published DE 10 2020 004564.2 of the patent holder.

[0011] The aforementioned prior art documents describe the continuous production of container chains of small-volume containers—i.e., containers with a filling volume of up to 20 ml. "Continuous" is understood to mean that the discharge rate of the plastic tube from the extrusion unit remains essentially constant throughout the entire manufacturing process. It is understood that continuous production is interrupted for maintenance purposes, mold changeovers, cleaning, etc.

[0012] Furthermore, the above-mentioned DE 10 2008 006 073 A1 discloses a device for producing vacuum-formed container products from plastic material by means of individual molded parts running along a production line, which can be moved towards and away from each other in pairs in order to close or open a production mold in which the container products are formed, which, after the demolding process, emerge as a container chain moved along the production line, wherein a demolding device, which acts on the emerged container chain outside the production mold, is provided to assist the demolding process.This known device aims to increase production speed, as it enables the production of a wide-area container chain conveyor from a large number of connected containers, instead of a piece-by-piece process. The container chain moves away from the molding device along the production line, supported by vibrating movements in the exit area of ​​the container chain conveyor. While this achieves extremely high productivity, the necessary high number of mold pairs and the complex conveyor movements also require high investment costs and limited format flexibility. Within the short cycle time of approximately 2 to 5 seconds, the containers can only be formed by vacuum forming, not by blow molding.The possible container geometries that can be produced with this method are therefore limited to small-volume containers such as ampoules, and the production of bottles with larger filling volumes of, for example, 50 ml and more is not readily possible. Furthermore, numerous pairs of molds and numerous filled containers are always located on the shared vertical production line, which requires a construction height for the manufacturing device of at least 15 times the container height.

[0013] From the generic WO 2014 / 060101 A1 a device for producing container products from plastic materials is known, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, with a forming device to which a formed tube of plasticized plastic material can be fed and which has movable forming surfaces simulating a predeterminable container geometry, against which the formed tube can be placed for a forming, filling and closing process, wherein a guiding and holding device is provided which has movable guiding and holding parts which can be controlled in such a way that in at least one of possible functional positions outside the forming area of ​​the forming device these act on the respective plastic material which at least partially surrounds the finished container products.Although the equipment required for the production of container chain conveyors is minimized with this known device, the production of filled containers with a higher volume of 50 ml and more is no longer possible, as such an extremely difficult-to-handle container chain conveyor, due to its high weight and the increased filling volume, can cause the plasticized plastic tube to stretch significantly or even tear, which in turn is unacceptable for reasons of sterility required for medical purposes (e.g. rinsing solutions, infusion solutions).

[0014] The production of container chain conveyors of this type is generally associated with another disadvantage. Since individual containers are only accessible for inspection or post-processing purposes some time after their production, early quality assurance inspection or post-processing, such as rapid cooling of the container and its contents, is only possible with a delay, making rapid responses to production irregularities or early thermal stabilization of heat-sensitive products (e.g., protein-containing solutions) impossible.

[0015] Based on this prior art, the invention therefore sets itself the task of creating an improved device and an improved method compared to the prior art, which enable the low-contamination or contamination-free production of filled and sealed containers, and furthermore open up the possibility of producing larger containers—such as infusion bottles—with a larger filling volume than conventional ampoule products. This object is achieved by a device having the features of patent claim 1.

[0016] Because, according to the characterizing part of patent claim 1, the plastic material, which is designed as a card and establishes a material connection between the container product finished in the molding device and a container product leaving the molding device via the guide and holding device, can be severed by means of a separating device, it is possible to completely dispense with the known production of a preform that is wide open at the top and the production of a container chain conveyor by simply separating individual, optionally bias-formed, filled and sealed containers directly from the at least partially collapsed molded tube after they have passed through the molding device. This reduces the potential for contamination, since any contaminants that may arise during the separation of the material connection cannot penetrate into the interior of the container.Furthermore, the separation of the still warm material connection is possible with low actuation forces.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that the separating device can be actuated independently of the forming device and that a handling device, preferably in the form of a robot team, moves into a removal position for this card in such a way that a synchronized production sequence of individual container products is possible with simultaneous non-synchronized, i.e. continuous, exit of the formed tube from the extrusion head. In this way, relatively high output rates of finished container products can be achieved. This also ensures that the separated card, which comprises several container products, cannot fall downwards out of the device, thus ensuring safe handling of the card within the device.

[0018] Preferably, it can further be provided that the material connection comprises at least one further finished container product, and that two adjacent container products can then be separated from one another by means of the separating device. The material connection, usually formed from a thin-walled plastic strip, between the finished and at least partially finished container product can accordingly also contain at least one further, preferably finished, container product originating from the separating device, so that the forming device can also separate two adjacent containers from one another in the production sequence.

[0019] Since the forming and filling of a container product unit takes place before separation, the separation process prevents any unintentional contamination of the container contents. Since the production and discharge process involves individual containers or container blocks with individual containers running perpendicular to the vertical production line, there is no need to handle a container chain conveyor as shown in the prior art, and the device according to the invention can be used universally for a variety of possible container types for medical purposes, from small-volume ampoules, for example, for eye drops or inhalation solutions, to large-volume bottles for enteral or parenteral applications as the respective container product.

[0020] The device according to the invention enables high productivity with a minimal number of molds, which helps save costs. The quick and easy exchange of individual molds results in high format flexibility. Furthermore, the device has a compact design in the vertical and thus upright production or processing direction, thus saving space.

[0021] Furthermore, this results in simple post-treatment for the container products manufactured and separated in this way and the contents therein, such as inspection for particulate contamination, treatment steps to reduce the number of germs or the application of any required labelling for the container product, including cooling of the same.

[0022] If, according to the invention, a separating device is mentioned, this can be a separating or cutting unit using hot, cold, or ultrasonic knives, as well as a laser, or other separating devices including water cutting devices and the like. The separation by the respective separating or cutting unit of a partially collapsed but still warm tube section preferably takes place spatially below the thus closed forming device and above a filled and sealed container product unit that has already left the forming device as a finished container product. However, it is also possible to separate two adjacent, finished container products.The separating device can be arranged stationary within the device; however, it is also possible to provide a movable separating device which can be moved together with the guiding and holding device during production, which will be explained in more detail below. For the latter embodiment, it is provided, preferably in a device according to the invention, that the movable guiding and holding parts can be brought into a functional position at the end of each shaping, filling and closing process for the container product, in which they rest on the forming tube in the section adjacent to the inlet of the forming device on opposite sides of the tube for a supporting operation, and that the guiding and holding parts have the separating device which, in a separating position, separates the material connection from the holding process.

[0023] In a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the separating device comprises one or preferably two optionally heatable cutting blades, each of which is assigned to a guide and holding part. These cutting blades are spaced apart by a predeterminable distance during the holding process, which preferably decreases to zero for the separating cut. As a result, the guide and holding part serves, on the one hand, to guide the container product into a transfer position and, after passing through the forming device, on the other hand, to perform a separating cut.

[0024] In a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the molding device has jaws forming individual molding surfaces, which jaws can be moved by means of a closing unit in a direction of movement perpendicular to the vertical direction of movement of the molded tube between a mold-closing position and a mold-opening position, and a displacement unit is provided, by means of which the closing unit can be moved vertically downwards from a starting position during the molding, filling, and closing process together with the movement of the molded tube, and upwards into the starting position after completion of the molding, filling, and closing process. This type of vertical movement makes it possible to implement a continuous manufacturing process along a production line with low device expenditures, because only one pair of jaws with the molding surfaces is required for each molding process.In this way, starting from the extrusion device, a manufacturing process is created that runs from top to bottom, with a separation process in one plane, running transversely to the manufacturing line or vertically running manufacturing plane or manufacturing line.

[0025] In a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, a handling device is provided which, by means of a gripper, grips the finished container product at least during the separation process and, after separation, removes it from the guide and holding device in a removal position. Preferably, it is further provided that, in the removal position, the gripper engages a part of the material connection, which, after separation, consists of the plastic material that leaves the open molding device. Particularly preferably, the handling device is a component of a multi-axis movable robot arm.The handling device enables the finished separated container products to be safely removed from the device and the handling device allows the removal process to be easily adapted for a wide variety of container products with different container volumes.

[0026] In a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the guide and holding device is movable by means of a second displacement unit between an upper position, which corresponds to the operative position of the guide and holding parts, and lowered positions. In this way, the guide and holding parts can be easily moved into their respective intended functional positions.

[0027] In another particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the guide and holding parts are provided in the form of support strips which, in the pivot position corresponding to the active position, extend over the entire width of the mold parting plane of the molding device and are attached for pivoting movements in a horizontal plane to pivot shafts of the associated actuating unit, which extend vertically and parallel to one another next to the mold parting plane. The elongated strips allow for simple support of a correspondingly large-volume container row and, moreover, reliably achieve the separating forces of the separating device for a separating process.

[0028] The invention further relates to a method for the continuous production of container products from plastic materials, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, in particular using a device as described above, wherein container products produced one after the other in a production sequence are connected to one another by means of a forming device via a web-like material connection - preferably formed by the at least partially collapsed molded tube - and wherein the material connection is severed by means of a separating device after leaving the forming device. The average thickness of the web-like material connection in the separation region should preferably be less than 3 cm. In this respect, a further development and improvement of the known solution according to WO 2014 / 060101 A1 and the subsequently published application DE 10 2020 004 564.2 is achieved.

[0029] In the following, the device according to the invention and the associated manufacturing process are explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. In a schematic representation and not to scale, the

[0030] Figure 1 is a schematically simplified perspective oblique view of essential components of the device;

[0031] Figure 2 shows a perspective oblique view of only a portion of the device according to Figure 1, wherein the mold-closing unit and the guiding and holding device as well as the separating device are shown with the respective associated functional elements;

[0032] Figure 3 again shows, in a perspective oblique view, only a part of the representation according to Figure 2;

[0033] Figure 4 is a perspective partial view of finished container products which, viewed in the direction of Figure 4, are separated in the area of ​​the upper material connection from the material connection above it (not shown) by means of the separating device and are held in the lower area of ​​a comparable material connection by a gripper of a handling device;

[0034] Figure 5 partly in view, partly in longitudinal section, the guide and holding device with support strips and underlying cutting knives of the separating device;

[0035] Figure 6 shows a partial section of the device according to Figure 2 with a multi-axis robot arm as part of the handling device, which, according to the illustration in Figure 4, holds the finished container products in a removal position by means of a gripper; and

[0036] Figure 7 is a partial view of another embodiment using a vertically movable extrusion head.

[0037] Essential components of the device and the associated manufacturing process are already described in WO 2014 / 060101 A1 and the subsequently published DE 10 2020 004 564.2, so that in this respect reference is made to these documents and only the essential components of the device are described below, insofar as this is necessary for understanding the solution according to the invention.

[0038] In Figure 1, which shows a simplified overall view of the device according to the invention, a device frame is designated by 10, which has a rectangular box shape with a front side 12 running in a vertical plane. Arranged on the upper side of the box shape of the frame 10 is an extruder device, designated as a whole by 14, which is designed according to the relevant prior art and has a feed hopper 16 for plastic granulate and a motor-driven extruder screw unit 18 for feeding plasticized plastic mass to a hose or extrusion head 20. This extrudes the heated, plasticized plastic material in the form of a hose, which extends over the entire width of a molding device 22, measured along the mold parting plane.Depending on the design of the forming device 22, a plurality of container products 26 corresponding to the number of forming surfaces 28 lying next to one another in a row can be formed in one forming step from a single extruded formed tube, which is designated by 24 in Figure 6.

[0039] Of these, the molding surfaces 28 of the left-hand part of the molding device 22 are visible in Figures 1 and 2, which show the molding device 22 in the open state. In Figure 3, the relevant molding surfaces 28 have been omitted for the sake of simplicity of illustration. Along the top side of the device frame 10, a blow / fill device 30 is provided for the optional blow molding as well as a metered supply of dispensing or filling quantities during a filling process for the container products 26 molded in the molding device 22. The blow / fill device 30 has a number of blow / fill mandrels corresponding to the number of container products 26 to be molded. These mandrels are not shown for the sake of simplicity of illustration, but their structure and function essentially correspond to the structure described in WO 2014 / 060101 A1.In any case, the plastic mass is extruded through the extrusion head 20 (also referred to as a hose head) in such a way that the formed molded tube 24 surrounds the row of blow / fill mandrels, which can thereby be lowered within the molded tube 24 into a blow / fill position in which they blow-mold and fill the containers 26 formed between the mold surfaces 28. For the shaping of those container parts that thus receive the fill quantity, an expansion process is provided before filling, during which a negative pressure is applied to the container wall within the container mold in order to apply the corresponding wall parts to the mold (negative pressure gradient). In deviation from the structure described in WO 2014 / 060101 A1, this expansion process can additionally or alternatively also be carried out by blowing in blowing air, preferably via the blowing / filling mandrels, which then also serve as blowing mandrels (positive pressure gradient).

[0040] Figure 2 shows a separate illustration of the clamping unit 32 of the molding device 22 as well as the guiding and holding device 34. Both the clamping unit 32 and the guiding and holding device 34 optionally each have a support plate 36 or 38 extending in a vertical plane. As Figures 1 and 2 further show, the fixture frame 10 has a vertical guide 40 on the outside on both sides of the front 12, formed from guide rails which, together with guide rails 42 on the support plate 36 and corresponding guide rails 44 on the further support plate 38, form a type of ball orbit, so that the clamping unit 32 and the guiding and holding device 34 are guided on the vertical guides 40 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. Spindle drives (not shown) with associated recirculating ball screws are provided for the corresponding vertical movements and can be actuated by a machine control system.

[0041] The clamping unit 32 of the molding device 22 has a carriage as a support for each mold half of the overall mold, of which the left-side carriage in Figure 2 is designated 46 and the right-side carriage 48. The two carriages 46, 48 are guided horizontally on guide rails 50 of the support plate 36. A left-side main jaw 54 is attached to a holding body 52 attached to the carriage 46, and a right-side main jaw 58 is attached to a holding body 56 attached to the opposite right-hand carriage 48.

[0042] In the retracted closed position (not shown), the main jaws 54, 58 form the main part 60 of the container products 26, which receives the respective container contents (see Figure 4). On the upper side of the holding body 52 of the left-hand main jaw 54, which forms a flat plate, a holding body 62 forming a type of slide plate is mounted horizontally displaceably, to which a left-hand head jaw 64 is attached. Similarly, on the upper side of the holding body 56 of the right-hand main jaw 58, a further holding body 66 is arranged horizontally displaceably, forming the support for a right-hand head jaw 68. As a result, the opposing head jaws 64, 68 can be moved into the closed position independently of the main mold jaws 54, 58 in order to form the head region 70 (see Figure 4) of the container products 26 and to close the filled containers to this extent.

[0043] For the horizontal movements between the mold closed position and the mold open position, as shown in Figure 2, a separate actuator is provided for each of the main jaws 54, 58 and the head jaws 64, 68. The actuator for the main jaws 54, 58 is coupled to the support plates 46 and 48 in order to move them along rails 50 on the support plate 36. The actuator assigned to the head jaws 64, 68 is coupled to the holding bodies 62, 66 of the head jaws 64 and 68, respectively. Both actuators each have a lever gear 72, which are arranged one above the other, so that essential parts of the lever gear 72 located below are not visible in Figure 2. However, in terms of its functional scope, this is designed in the same way as the visible lever gear 72 arranged above it as a drive for the head jaws 64, 68. Each of the lever gears 72 has a spindle drive 74 or 76 as a drive, each with an associated electric drive motor 78.The spindle drives 74, 76 are connected via struts 80 to a cross member on the rear side of the support plate 36, so that the unit formed by the lever gears 72 and the spindle drives 74, 76 can move together with the support plate 36 on the vertical guide 40 in accordance with the action of the recirculating ball screw (not shown). Guide rods 82 coupled to the upper spindle drive 74 hold the two opposing head jaws 64, 68 in their open position in the position shown. Corresponding linkage drives underneath serve to control the main jaw pairs 54, 58. By means of a central displacement unit 85 (Figure 1), the closing unit 32 can be moved vertically downwards from its starting position during the forming, filling and closing process together with the movement of the forming tube 24 and can be moved upwards again into the starting position after completion of the forming, filling and closing process.Further details can be found in WO 2014 / 060101 A1.

[0044] The guide and holding device 34, its support plate 38, as well as the support plate 36 of the closing unit 32, are movable on the vertical guide 40 of the frame 10 and, similar to the support plate 36, has horizontal guide rails 84 on which a left-side actuating unit 86 and a right-side actuating unit 88 are guided for horizontal displacement. The actuating units 86, 88 form the actuator for associated guide and holding parts, with the actuating unit 86 actuating a first left-side guide and holding part and a second left-side guide and holding part, while the second actuating unit 88 actuating a first right-side guide and holding part and a second right-side guide and holding part.The left-hand first guide and holding part and the right-hand first guide and holding part are each formed by pivotable support strips 90 and 92, which are of identical design and, when pivoted in a direction corresponding to their operative position, extend in a direction parallel to a mold parting plane 94 (see Figure 6). To adjust the pivot position, each support strip 90, 92 is attached to an associated pivot shaft 96 or 98, which extend vertically out of the housing of the respective actuating unit 86 or 88, parallel to one another next to the mold parting plane 94. In the housing of the two actuating units 86, 88, there is a pivot drive for each of the pivot shafts 86, 88, which can be actuated by a corresponding machine control system.

[0045] As Figure 6 shows in particular, the two support strips 90, 92 can be pivoted forward from their holding position shown in Figure 2 by means of the respectively assignable pivot shaft 96, 98 and can then be moved upwards again over the forming device 22, wherein after pivoting back into the holding position the formed hose 24 can be gripped in order to take the formed hose 24 into a lower holding position, in which the separating process according to the invention takes place, as will be described in more detail below. The guiding and holding device 34 as a whole can be moved between an upper and a lower functional position by means of a further, second displacement unit 99 (Figure 1).Further details in this regard and in particular the interaction with the first displacement unit 85 are the subject of WO 2014 / 060101 A1, the disclosure content of which is also the subject of the present patent.

[0046] As Figure 5 in particular shows, the two support strips 90, 92, in the closed state shown, have a holding or clamping gap 100 in which a material connection 102 is fixed between the finished container product 26, which has already left the forming device 22 via the guiding and holding device 34, and the container product (not shown) which is still in the forming device 22. Contrary to the illustration according to Figure 2, the two strips 90, 92 are preferably provided with vertically extending contact surfaces on their opposite end faces, wherein, viewed in the direction of Figure 5, the right support strip 92 has a variable contact surface 104 which is supported against an energy storage device in the form of at least one compression spring 106.In this way, the variable contact surface 104 is pressed against the material connection 102 with a predeterminable contact force via the compression spring 106, which enables a certain tolerance compensation and securely holds the material connection 102.

[0047] Below the two support bars 90, 92 there is a separating device 108 with two cutting knives 110, 112 which taper towards one another, the first cutting knife 110 being attached to the underside of the support bar 90 and the second cutting knife 112 being attached to the underside of the second support bar 92. According to the illustration in Figure 5, the cutting edges of the two cutting knives 110, 112 are arranged at a distance from one another in an initial position in such a way that by controlling the two pivot shafts 96, 98 the holding or clamping gap 100 must first be overcome by compressing the compression spring 106, before the separating cut through the material connection 102 is carried out by the feed movement of the two cutting knives 110, 112 towards one another. In this respect, too, the actual separating cut is cushioned by the spring property of the respective compression spring 106, so that a smooth separating process can be carried out.Optionally, the knives 110, 112 can be designed as vibrating knives. For an improved cutting process, the cutting knives 110, 112, which are preferably made of a metal material, can also be heated. In this case, it is expedient to provide a plate-shaped thermal insulator 114 between the knives 110, 112 and the respective associated support bar 90 or 92. It is understood that several of the compression springs 106 shown in Figure 5 can be distributed over the entire length of the support bar 92 with the variable contact surface 104. Furthermore, the knives 110, 112 preferably extend over the entire length of the respective support bar 90, 92, wherein the length in each bar must be selected such that the entire existing material connection 102 made of plastic material is severed.Since the separating device 108 is a component of the guiding and holding device, it also follows the movement of the support strips 90, 92 with its two cutting blades.

[0048] As Figure 4 in particular shows, the respective container product 26, in this exemplary case ampoule-like, is recorded in a type of card 115 with material connection areas 116 as part of the material connection 102 above and below the finished container products 26. In order to clarify the possible cutting intervention, the holding and separating device 108 is only shown halfway in Figure 4. As can be seen in particular from Figure 3, for the sake of simplicity of illustration, when the forming device 22 is open, the container products 26 produced thereby as well as the associated parts of the formed tube 24 are omitted. The separating cut is carried out by a pivoting movement of the pivot shafts 96 and 98, which thus hold the support strips 90, 92 with the respective cutting blade 110 or112 in a pivoting movement towards one another in such a way that, as viewed in the direction of Figure 3, the separating process initially takes place in a rear region, which then continues to a front region of the material connection 102. This improves the introduction of cutting forces and leads to an improved separation of the adjacent material connection regions 116 in the production sequence, with the variable contact surface 104 securing the material connection 102 in its position until it is completely severed. By pivoting the support strips 90, 92 with their cutting blades 110, 112 away from one another, the separating process is terminated and, moreover, the card 115 with the container products 26 is released as a whole.

[0049] To prevent the card 115 separated in this way, which comprises a plurality of container products 26, from falling downward between the two actuating units 86, 88, which are at least partially spaced apart from one another, a handling device designated as a whole by 118 is provided. The handling device 118 has a gripper 120 which, as shown in Figure 4, has two clamping pairs 122, the paired gripper tongues of which can be moved toward or away from one another by means of a linkage drive 124. For this purpose, a linear cylinder 126, which is preferably designed as a pneumatic actuator, engages the linkage drive 124. If the linear cylinder 126 is retracted downwards as viewed in the direction of Figure 4, the two longitudinal rods of the linkage gear 124 are moved towards each other by means of the guide part 128 and the clamping pairs 122 with their gripper tongues are released via corresponding pivot axes.In the opposite direction, the linear cylinder 126 extends, the maximum possible opening gap of the clamping pairs 122 is reduced and the card 115 is held by means of the gripper 120 via its lower material connection area 116.

[0050] As Figure 6 shows in particular, the linear cylinder 126 is held by a front arm part 130 of a multi-axis commercially available robot arm 132, which, when the left and right actuating units 86 and 88 are in the correspondingly open release position, can remove the separated card 115 shown in Figure 4 downwards from the production device.

[0051] The robot arm 132, as part of the handling device 118, then allows, with appropriate machine control, a multitude of post-processing steps for the card 115 with the finished container products 26, for example, the introduction of the card 115 into a suitable temperature control, in particular cooling, device (not shown). Further post-processing can consist of a quality assurance inspection, the application of a label, the separation of the germ count-reducing treatment using heat and / or high-energy radiation, the leak test, etc. It is understood that, as part of the production sequence, the robot arm 132 moves back to its removal position for the card 115 shown in Figure 6 as soon as such a card 115 has been separated from the container arrangement via the separating device 108.In this way, a synchronized production sequence of individual container products 26 with simultaneous non-synchronized, i.e. continuous, exit of a formed tube 24 from the extrusion head 20 is possible with relatively high output rates of finished container products 26.

[0052] For the sake of simplicity, the handling device 118 and the associated robot arm 132 are not shown in Figures 1 and 2. Furthermore, the high modularity of the handling device 118 using the robot arm 132 allows, if necessary, the implementation of a different type of gripper 120 for removing the finished container products 26 from the device.

[0053] As can also be seen from Figure 3, instead of the separating device 108 with the two cutting blades 110, 112, another separating device can also be used, for example, an easer cutting device can be arranged in this area below the forming device 22, the easer beam of which is transverse to the vertical production line with the respective material connections 102.

[0054] Figure 7 shows a different embodiment with an extrusion unit movable in the vertical direction, as explained in detail in the subsequently published application DE 10 2020 004 564.2.

[0055] This discloses a device for producing plastic container chains by means of a form-fill-close process, comprising at least a forming device 22 with individual jaw-like forming tools 54, 58; 64, 68, which can be repeatedly moved relative to one another from an open receiving position into a forming closed position, and an extrusion unit with an extrusion head 20 by means of which at least one extruded plastic tube can be introduced into the open receiving position of the forming tools 54, 58; 64, 68, wherein the extrusion unit can be moved in the opposite direction with each extruded plastic tube 24 by means of a displacement device relative to the forming device 22, which is arranged stationary in each position of the forming tools.To accommodate the molding device 22, a carrier device is used, among other things, which has a horizontally aligned carrier plate with two carrier plate parts 134 that are arranged symmetrically and spaced from one another to a vertically extending molding plane or production line. In the center region of each carrier plate part 134, two cuboid-shaped guide parts are stacked one above the other as guide blocks 136, which are aligned in the direction of travel of the block-like molding tools 54, 58 and 64, 68. Each of these guide blocks 136 serves to guide two guide rods 138 for guiding the respective molding tool. In addition, each guide block 136 serves to guide two actuator rods (not shown in detail), which extend between the guide rods 138 in the direction of travel of the molding tools 54, 58; 64, 68. The respective actuator rod is electromagnetically movable by means of a single-arm drive 140.

[0056] In this embodiment, the separating device 108 according to the invention shown in Fig. 5 is advantageously mounted in a stationary manner below the stationary molding device 22, preferably below the vertically movable clamping strips 142 of a clamping device (not shown here) acting as a guide and holding device. As previously described, the container products 26 separated in the material connection 102 are discharged with the aid of the previously described gripper 120 using the handling device 118 with the robot arm 132 (the latter not shown in Fig. 7). Thus, in this embodiment too, the production of plastic container chains can advantageously be avoided. In this embodiment shown, the separation of the containers 26 also takes place while they are located on the main axis or mold parting plane, which corresponds to the longitudinal axis of the exiting tube 24.In this embodiment, the material connection 102 has at least one further, finished container product 26 after leaving the forming device 22, so that, according to the illustration in Figure 7, two already finished container products 26 can be separated from one another in the production sequence by means of the separating device 108, wherein a container product that is still to be finished is located in the forming device 22.

[0057] With the device according to the invention, the following repetitive process steps can be carried out in succession or partly simultaneously within the scope of a manufacturing process: a- Continuous extrusion of a formed tube 24 through a tube or extrusion head 20, b- Closing a forming device 22 with the forming surfaces 28 being applied around the formed tube 24, in a positioning position below the extrusion head 20, c- Forming the respective container product 26 by a pressure gradient (bubbles and / or vacuum) within the main jaws 54, 58, optionally carrying out a purging process with inert gas or similar, subsequent filling, optionally purging the head space above the filling level of the filled container 26 with inert gas or similar, d- Closing the filled container products 26 by the two head jaws 64 and 68 as part of the forming device 22, e- Gripping and collapsing the molded tube 24 above the head jaws 64,68 by a tube gripper in the form of the support bars 90, 92 of the guide and holding device 34 and placing the gripper 120 as a discharge means on the underside of the filled and closed container unit in the form of a container card 115, f- opening the forming device 22 and moving upwards to the intended installation or starting position, g- cutting off the card 115 with the container products 26 by the separating device 108 on the tube gripper in the form of the support bars 90, 92, opening the guide and holding device 34 by pivoting away the two support bars 90, 92 and discharging the card 115 with the container products 26 by the gripper 120 using the handling device 118 with the robot arm 132 with subsequent movement of the guide and holding device 34 upwards into a position above the forming device 22.

[0058] Optionally, step g (deposition of card 1 15) can be carried out before or simultaneously with step f (opening of the mold device 22).

[0059] Alternatively to steps e- to g- when using a stationary molding device 22, according to the post-published application DE 10 2020 004 564.2, h- opening the molding device 22 and gripping the filled container product 26 in the opened mold with the aid of a pair of clamping strips 142 and moving it downwards and placing the gripper 120 as a discharge means on the previously produced container product 26 below the pair of clamping strips 142 and cutting off the card 1 15 with the respective container product 26 by the separating device 108 together with discharging the card 1 15 with the respective container product 26 by the gripper 120 using the handling device 1 18 with the robot arm 132, and i- repeating the sequence a- to g- or alternatively the sequence a- to d- and h-.

[0060] Optionally, in step h, the cutting of the card 1 15 can also take place before or at the same time as the opening of the forming device 22.

[0061] During steps a to g, the mold 22 and tube grippers 34, 90, 92 are moved downwards along the vertical production line in the extrusion direction in a uniform motion analogous to the exit speed of the molded tube 24 at a constant low speed, for example, at approximately 80 mm / s. In process step f (opening the molding device 22), the mold is opened perpendicular to this main production axis and moved upwards along the main axis at increased speed, before returning to the positioning position (step b) below the extrusion head 20.

[0062] Simultaneously with the continuous extrusion, the container products 26 discharged by the gripper 120 by means of the handling device 118 can be inspected or post-treated in further steps not described in detail. In particular, for heat-sensitive filling materials, rapid cooling of the filled container unit as card 115 can be carried out, for example by blowing with a gas, immersing in a fluid cooling medium, introducing into a cooling tunnel, etc.

Claims

P a t e n t a n s p r ü c h e 1. A device for producing container products (26) from plastic materials, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, comprising a forming device (22) to which a formed tube (24) of plasticized plastic material can be fed by means of an extrusion head (20) and which has movable forming surfaces (28) simulating a predeterminable container geometry, against which the formed tube (24) can be placed for a forming, filling and / or closing process, wherein a guiding and holding device (34) is provided which has movable guiding and holding parts which can be controlled in such a way that, in at least one of the possible functional positions outside the forming area of ​​the forming device (22), these engage the respective plastic material which at least partially surrounds the finished container products (26), characterized in that the plastic material,which, in the form of a card (115), creates a material connection (102) between a finished container product (26) which has already left the forming device (22) and an at least partially finished container product which is still in the forming device (22), and can be severed by means of a separating device (108).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the separating device (108) can be actuated independently of the forming device (22), and that a handling device (118), preferably in the form of a robot arm (132), moves into a removal position for the card (115) in such a way that a clocked production sequence of individual container products (26) with simultaneous non-clocked, i.e. continuous exit of the formed tube (24) from the extrusion head (20) is possible.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the material connection (102) receives at least one further finished container product (26) and that two adjacent container products (26) can be separated from one another by means of the separating device (108).

4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material connection (102) consists of an at least partially collapsed molded tube with an average thickness in the separation region of less than 3 cm, preferably less than 2 cm, particularly preferably less than 1 cm.

5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movable guide and holding parts of a guide and holding device (34) can be brought into a functional position at the end of a respective shaping, filling and closing process for the container product (26), in which they bear against the forming tube (24) in the section adjacent to the inlet of the forming device (22) on opposite sides of the tube for a holding process, and in that the guide and holding parts have the separating device (108) which, in a separating position, separates the material connection (102) from the holding process.

6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separating device (108) has two cutting blades (1 10, 1 12), each cutting blade (1 10, 1 12) of which is assigned to a guide and holding part, which have a predeterminable distance (100) from one another during the holding process, which distance is reduced to less than 4 mm, preferably less than 2 mm, particularly preferably less than 1 mm, preferably to zero, for the separating cut.

7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the forming device (22) has jaws (54, 58; 64, 68) forming individual forming surfaces (28) which are movable by means of a closing unit (32) in a direction of movement perpendicular to the vertical direction of movement of the forming tube (24) between a mold closing position and a mold opening position and that a displacement unit (85) is provided by means of which the closing unit (32) can be moved vertically downwards from a starting position during the forming, filling and closing process together with the movement of the forming tube (24) and after completion of the forming, filling and closing process into the starting position upwards.

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a handling device (118) is provided which grips the respectively finished container product (26) in a removal position by means of a gripper (120).

9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separating unit (108) is arranged stationary or movable in the vertical direction.

10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handling device (118) is a component of a multi-axis movable robot arm (132). 1 1 .Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide and holding device (34) can be moved by means of a second displacement unit (99) between an upper position, which corresponds to the operative position of the guide and holding parts, and lowered positions.

12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide and holding parts are designed in the form of support strips (90, 92) which, in the pivoting position corresponding to the operative position, extend over the entire length of the mold parting plane (94) of the molding device (22) and are attached for pivoting movements in a horizontal plane to pivot shafts (96, 98) of the associated actuating unit (86, 88), which extend vertically and parallel to one another next to the mold parting plane (94).

13. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separating device (108) with at least one, preferably two, cutting knives (110, 112) is mounted below a bottom side of the forming device (22) and is optionally movable together with the latter.

14. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a blow-filling mandrel is used to form the container products (26).

15. A method for producing container products (26) from plastic materials, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, in particular using a device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein container products (26) produced one after the other by means of a forming device (22) are connected to one another via a web-like material connection (102). connected to each other, characterized in that the material connection (102) is severed at a predeterminable point below the forming device (22) by means of a separating device (108).

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that by means of a separating device (108) the material connection (102) is severed at an angle of 80 degrees to 1 10 degrees, preferably approximately 90 degrees, to the longitudinal axis of a molded hose (24). 1 / .Process according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that the production of the molded hose (24) takes place with the aid of supporting gas, preferably with air.

18. Method according to one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that the filling of the container products (26) takes place by filling mandrels which are located at least partially in the interior of the molded tube (24).

19. Method according to one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that container products (26) for medical purposes, in particular bottles with a volume of more than 30 ml, preferably more than 50 ml filling volume or ampoules, are produced therewith.

20. Method according to one of claims 15 to 19, characterized in that the shaping of the container products (26) is carried out at least partially by a blowing process.

21. Method for producing container products (26) from plastic materials, in particular by carrying out a forming, filling and closing process, in particular using a pre- Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the forming, filling, closing and separating of the filled container products (26) from the forming tube (24) takes place along a, preferably vertically extending, main or forming axis.

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